184 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
going objects, and by any other means incidental or condu- 
cive to those objects. The officers and council are :—Presi- 
dent, Mr. Winchcombe, M.L.C. ; vice-presidents, Messrs. H. 
C. L. Anderson, Dr. Hurst, W. W. Froggatt, and D. G. 
Stead; treasurer, Mr. S. V. Kearney; hon. secretary, Mr. L. 
‘Harrison; council, Dr. Mary Booth, Mrs. Eyres, Mrs. L. 
Harrison, Mrs. Kearney, Mrs. Ramsay, Miss McClelland, 
and Mrs. Garvin, Dr. d’Ombrain, Messrs. H. E. Finckh, 
F. Farnell, C. Thackeray, A. G. Hamilton, C. Hedley, A. S. 
Le Souef, W. G. Clark, P. Gilbert, J. R. Garland, V. Le 
Gay Brereton, Sir Joseph Carruthers, and Count Morner ; 
hon. auditors, Messrs. W. J. Myles and A. C. P. Sterling. 
SNAKES & BuLL-poG Ants.—A friend recently informed 
me that he had often found Blind Snakes (7yphlops) in the 
nests of bull-dog ants, near Riverstone, N.S.W. While it 
is well known that they feed on the eggs and larvae of ter- 
mites, their occurrence in the nests of such savage insects as 
bull-dogs is surprising, and any further notes from country 
members on this subject would be interesting. If possible, 
the snakes should be forwarded to the Australian Museum 
for accurate identification, as there are many species in 
N.S.W.—A. R. MacCuLtocu. : 
Emus & THEIR Foop.—Mr. Hugh Dixson writes us as 
follows :—Seeing in an old number of THE AUSTRALIAN 
NATURALIST the mischief Emus may do in spreading prickly 
pear, I thought the following might interest your readers. 
Emus will completely destroy blackberries in a very short 
time. ‘They do this by nipping out the young green shoots 
almost as soon as they show themselves. No plant can stand 
this. I believe they would do the same for sweet briar, I 
had a hedge of blackberries cleared as far as the emu could 
reach fairly killed, but as it extended to the other side of a 
fence they did not complete the destruction. 
GaGr’s Microscopy.—The Microscope: an Introduction 
to Microscopic Methods and to Histology, by S. H. Gage, 
has quite recently reached the roth edition. ‘The work has 
practically been re-written, and though retaining the well- 
known features which have rendered it so popular and 
valuable, a vast amount of information as to recent advances 
and improvements in microscopy and technique has been 
added, more especially in the direction of histology. To 
enter into detail as to its merits would, now-a-days, be super- 
fluous, but it is permissible to state that this text-book will 
be found of great service to teacher as well as student. 
17-09. 
